The opposition Classical Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (CPFPA) does not believe in alliance of the opposition parties boycotting the presidential elections.
“We want the cooperation centre of the opposition to be established. However, there are some difficulties to realize this initiative with officials of acting opposition,” Mirmahmud Miralioglu, the chairman of the CPFPA, told journalists on 22 August.

Azerbaijani opposition Adalat party has not take the final decision regarding the presidential elections. “The meeting of party’s Political Council is expected to be held until the end of August to take the final decision on the presidential elections,” Elkhan Shukurlu, Deputy Chairman of Adalat party, told Trend News.
Shukurlu said that Ilyas Ismayilov, Chairman of the party, visits Russia. Ismayilov is expected to come back to Baku on the next week. “Initially, Ismayilov did not want to nominate his candidature. However, it was not the final decision. The final decision will be made at the meeting of the Political Council,” Shukurlu said.

Central Election Commission has considered the candidacy of two nominees in today’s meeting.
The commission has approved Fazil Mustafayev nominated by the Great Establishment Party, as well as Fikret Tagi Ahadov.

“We plan to hold mass rallies along with opposition parties,” Chairman of Azerbaijan Popular Front Party Ali Karimli said, APA reports. He said that their decision on boycotting the presidential elections did not mean observation. The bloc will focus its attention on mass rallies.
“The date of the mass rallies will be known after the election campaign starts,” he said.

Central Election Commission (CEC), Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) will hold training for the employees of election constituencies responsible for applications and complaints on the theme “Rules of considering applications and complaints” on August 25-26. CEC told APA about it.
65 responsible representatives of election constituencies attended the training on August 20-22. Representatives of other 60 election constituencies (mainly Baku, Sumgayit, Absheron) will attend training on August 25-26. The trainings aim at qualifying the employees of election constituencies responsible for applications and complaints. The members of precinct election commissions in Baku, Sumgayit and Absheron will attend trainings on August 27-30.

The opposition Yeni Zaman (Modern Times) party has brought an action against the Ministry of Justice as the latter refuses to grant a state registration to the party, Musa Agayev, the chairman of the party said.
The opposition Yeni Zaman party was founded on 15 July 2007. In August of the same year the documents of the party was submitted to the Ministry of Justice. However, the Ministry has not yet registered it and says that changes should be made to the documents of the party.
According to Agayev, though the documents of the party was corrected and submitted to the Ministry of Justice for already 7 months ago, the Ministry has not yet provided any feedback since then.

The opposition Azerbaijani National Unity Party (ANUP) will support candidature of the current President Ilham Aliyev, the chairman of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP), in the upcoming presidential elections.
“Earlier, we decided to support Ilham Aliyev even in the presidential elections in 2003and do not see any necessity to review this decision,” Yunus Oguz, the chairman of the ANUP, told Trend News on 21 August.
According to Oguz, he does not see any necessity to nominate his candidature. “In 2003, when I withdrew from the presidential elections campaign, I stated that opposition should prepare for not the presidential elections of 2008, but the elections of 2013. Ilham Aliyev will win undoubtedly in these elections. We will participate in the propaganda campaign to support the President’s candidature,” he said.

Sergey Kuznetsov, a representative of the Venice Commission, believes that examination of complaints during the elections assumes a great importance. “Plaintiff should be sure that his/her complaint will be examined with full objectivity,” Kuznetsov stated at the training on Rules examination of applications and complaints held on 21 August.
According to Kuznetsov, the latest changes in the Elections Code were injected on the base of recommendation of the Venice Commission and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The OSCE Baku Office urged the Government to implement fully its obligations during the presidential elections in Azerbaijan. “The elections should be held so that they covered all obligations undertaken, which should be carried out,” Alexis Shahtatinsky, the deputy head of the OSCE Baku Office, stated at the training.

The Azerbaijani Central Election Commission (CEC) considers that it is incorrect for the opposition parties boycotting elections to device a document regarding illegitimacy of elections beforehand.
“Devising such document before the elections is an unserious matter. The elections should take place and after it is possible assess it,” Mazahir Panahov, the CEC Chairman, told journalists on 21 August.
According to Panahov, it is not understandable to assess the elections before the beginning of this process.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan does not accept the claims regarding serious obstacles in regions against presidential contenders during the pre-election campaign. “No facts regarding the obstacles put toward contenders have been delivered to CEC. Some contenders evaluate a common obstacle as forejudged attitude towards them,” Mazahir Panahov, chairman of CEC, said.
Presidential contenders – Hafiz Hajiyev, chairman of the Muasir Musavat party, and Igbal Agazade, chairman of Umid party, have stated that they faced serious obstacles during collection of signatures.
Panahov said that only Akif Gurbanov, a member of Umid, has stated about obstacles so far. “I asked him to show me facts. However, I have not received anything so far,” Panahov said.

The opposition Great Establishment Party of Azerbaijan (GEP) changed its decision not take part in the election with its own candidate in the meeting of the Supreme Majlis of the party on 21 August.
“Our two key demands have already been fulfilled, therefore the Supreme Majlis of the party decided to take part in the elections and nominated me for the presidential elections,” Fazil Gazanfaroglu, chairman of GEP and MP said to TrendNews.
GEP refused to take part in the elections as the party was hindered from being represented in the Central Election Commission and it was not provided with headquarters. “These two obstacles have been eliminated. Two days ago the State Committee for Property Management provided us with headquarters. Though our headquarters needs repairs, we already have our own headquarters. As to the representation of the party in CEC, parliament will give a positive response to it in the autumn session,” he said.

The Venice Commission is prepared to discuss with Azerbaijan the law draft on financing political parties from public budget, the representative of the Secretariat of the Venice Commission, Sergey Kuznetsov, told TrendNews.
“The Commission has wide experience in this issue and if the Government of Azerbaijan appeals to us with such a request, we are prepared to assist in devising the law draft,” he said.
Still such request has not been received from Azerbaijan.